eBay to appeal patent decision

$30m patent claim

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Online auctioneer eBay is to appeal a US court decision relating to its patent dispute with MercExchange.

MercExchange holds patents relating to internet auctions, and on Tuesday a court in Virginia found eBay had infringed some of its patents. The company was awarded $30m from eBay.

For its part, eBay said the court had ruled against it on procedural grounds and not on the merits of the case. In a statement, the online auctioneer said it would appeal on procedural issues and remained confident in victory.

The case relates to eBay's "Buy It Now" function. MercExchange won an earlier case in 2003 and was awarded $29.5m. eBay first took this to appeal in 2004. The case ended up in front of the Supremes last year. The Supremes ruled on the legality of previous cases, specifically on a company's rights to injunction.